


At least we stole the show

by Rosetylars



Category: Sports RPF, Tennis RPF
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Non-Explicit Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29377209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosetylars/pseuds/Rosetylars
Summary: They bring out the best in each other, because they've been there for the worst.
Relationships: Thanasi Kokkinakis/Nick Kyrgios
Kudos: 10





	At least we stole the show

**Author's Note:**

> Australian Open, Melbourne, February 2021.
> 
> ***  
> Title and lyrics from Stole the Show by Kygo.

In a question after his own second round win, Nick had gone on a long winded tangent about _Thanasi_.

“I was thinking about him out here, actually,” Nick had drawled, looking out at the crowd surrounding the (once again) renamed John Cain Arena, slightly unfocused and distracted as Nick always tended to be, in public.

Nick had fought to an incredible five set win, and there he was, talking about Thanasi. Talking about how far Thanasi had come, fighting through years of injuries, winning his first match at the Australian Open for six years, that previous day.

What were Thanasi and Nick, anyway? They were so much more than friends. Not quite lovers - at least, not consistently - but they had been in each other’s orbit since they were kids, and Thanasi always felt more alive when they were together.

Today, Thanasi was up against Tsitsipas. Nick’s ex-something, who had gone on to reach rankings and titles that Thanasi could only dream about.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but Thanasi wasn’t going to give the match away without a hell of a fight.

He rocked up to Rod Laver Arena in his $10 Kmart outfit, adorned with a new sleeve sponsor after his efforts on Tuesday, ready to play against a 22 year old who could probably already buy most of Adelaide with his prize money, if he wanted to.

And Thanasi won the first set in a close tiebreak.

Soon, though, Tsitsipas’ class showed through, and Thanasi’s serve let him down a little. Tsitsipas ended up breaking once in the second set and twice in the third, taking them both comfortably.

Thanasi fought hard to hold all of his service games in the fourth set - he had to save a lot of break points in the set to earn himself a spot in a tiebreak.

And then he saw Nick in the crowd, coming to watch despite just finishing a training session of his own.

They locked eyes, and Nick nodded, making a fist, encouraging him to keep fighting.

Thanasi’s confidence grew, and somehow, _somehow_ , he won the tiebreak.

They were going to a fifth set.

Thanasi was cramping, his muscles were aching, it was thirty degrees, they had been playing for almost four hours, but Nick was there, and Thanasi felt strong.

But every service game was a battle in itself, by now, and Thanasi eventually let one slip. It ended up being the defining margin - the single break in the fifth set was all it took for Tsitsipas to secure the victory.

Thanasi’s Australian Open run was over - in singles, at least.

The crowd gave Thanasi warm applause as he left, though his heart was aching, along with his body. He had fought for four hours and thirty two minutes. The longest match of the tournament, so far.

And he had just fallen short.

He set off on the long walk back to the locker room, deep within Rod Laver Arena. It was almost insulting, walking past the pictures of all the previous champions - rubbing salt into the wound that his tournament was over, again.

But he’d given it everything.

When he got to the locker room, he expected to keep his head down, and for any players nearby to give him some space. Everyone normally gave each other a wide berth, after losses, and Thanasi’s coach normally gave him fifteen minutes to himself… so he was beyond surprised to see Nick, sitting at Thanasi’s locker.

Nick was staring blankly at his phone - his defence mechanism, whenever he wasn’t sure of himself.

Just the thought brought a tiny smile out of Thanasi.

“Hi,” Thanasi mumbled, putting his bags down on the floor by the locker.

Nick looked up at him. “Hi,” he replied quietly.

Neither of them seemed sure what to say, so when Nick stood up and opened his arms, Thanasi accepted his hug, burying his head in Nick’s shoulder.

“You came,” Thanasi mumbled into the collar of Nick’s hoodie.

“Of course I did,” Nick replied, rubbing Thanasi’s back soothingly. “I wanted to come from the start, but Dan wouldn’t let me bitch out on training.”

Thanasi chuckled, and Nick released him from his grip.

“He probably thought it was another excuse,” Thanasi teased.

Nick shrugged. “He knows how much you mean to me,” he admitted quietly.

Thanasi swallowed back the words he wanted to say.

There were a few moments of silence.

“You couldn’t have done any more, TK. You fought so hard,” Nick said softly.

Thanasi huffed a wry laugh. “Coulda won.”

Nick levelled him with an unimpressed look. “He’s like, number five in the world or something. You gave it everything. Don’t give me that bullshit.”

Thanasi nodded, accepting Nick’s words.

Nick turned to Thanasi’s locker behind him, digging a towel out, and handing it to him. “Going for a shower?”

With a sigh, Thanasi nodded. “Then probably two hours of physio. Feel dead,” he admitted.

Nick huffed a laugh. “Gonna need some energy for dubs, mate.”

In amongst the near five hour marathon match, Thanasi hadn’t even considered that he and Nick were scheduled to play doubles that evening.

Thanasi was clearly a bit fatigued, so Nick gathered a fresh set of clothes for him before Thanasi could even react.

“What about you?” Thanasi asked.

“I’ll be here,” Nick assured, sitting back down and pulling his phone out again. “Then we’ll get some dinner.”

*

Thanasi had half hoped Nick would sneak in and join him in the shower, like he always had when they were younger, but he didn’t. Of course he didn’t. Not with a bunch of other players around, finishing up matches or training of their own.

Not many people knew their history - most of the other Aussie players did, but didn’t tend to bring it up around Nick or Thanasi, because it was a bit of a sore point.

Thanasi didn’t want to think about it, because this trail of thought always ended up with him blaming his body for taking away everything that could’ve been. He and Nick could have had it all, together, flying around the world and playing tournaments, but he hadn’t even been able to get on the park for a few weeks in a row, let alone an entire season, and Nick had had his own challenges with injuries and suspensions on top of that.

Thanasi’s last proper match had been at a random Challenger in Tiburon, in late 2019, when he had played a final, gotten into trouble for wanting to use the toilet, ended up losing, and wasn’t even given a runner up plate.

Nick and Thanasi had never been _together_ , officially, but they had been so much more than best friends. The night after they had played against each other for the boys’ Australian Open championship, when Thanasi was sixteen and Nick was seventeen, they ended up getting drunk off some alcohol that Nick’s brother had bought for them, ending up in bed together, on the first occasion of many.

But everything changed the night of Christmas Eve, 2015, just under three years later, when Thanasi revealed he had to have shoulder surgery.

Thanasi was off the tour for a long time, after that - he returned for a match at the 2016 Olympics, but Nick was infamously left off that team due to his beef with the Australian Olympics selector.

Nick saw some other people in the years that followed, and Thanasi ended up with a girlfriend for a little while.

But this last week and a half, Nick had been back in Melbourne… and back in Thanasi’s bed, most nights. And things felt like they were back to how they used to be. And it scared Thanasi, how much that excited him.

He sighed, shaking his head as if he could clear out all of the thoughts. He couldn’t change anything that had happened, and he couldn’t predict the future, either.

All he could do, right now, was take every moment as it came.

He headed back to the locker room, and Nick gave him a soft smile.

“It’s raining, so dubs has been delayed. More time for dinner,” Nick reported.

Thanasi was relieved, with that news - it meant they could enjoy a relaxed dinner together, not having to keep an eye on the clock.

*

Rain caused their match to be postponed, and the following morning, Thanasi woke up with Nick curled into his back, a tattooed arm flung over his waist. Nick was pressing light kisses into the back of Thanasi’s neck, making the younger man smile.

“Morning,” Thanasi mumbled.

“Good morning,” Nick said, licking lightly over a mark he had left late the previous night.

“How ya feeling?” Thanasi asked, turning in the circle of Nick’s arms to face him.

“Okay.” Nick gave a half hearted shrug, but Thanasi saw right through it. 

Thanasi chuckled. “You’re allowed to be nervous.”

Nick huffed a soft laugh. “Fine, I’m nervous,” he agreed. “I want it. I want to win.”

A lot of people - outsiders, who didn’t know Nick very well - thought that Nick didn’t usually care about the result, when he played. But Thanasi knew better. Nick cared, so much. So for him to voice just how much he wanted to win… it was big.

“You can,” Thanasi said gently. “I know you can. You’ve beaten big guys before. He’s on _your_ deck. Home ground advantage.”

Nick chuckled softly at the words. “You and your footy analogies,” he shook his head.

Thanasi shrugged, stretching a little, his calf stroking along Nick’s, under the sheets, as he did.

“Make him earn it.”

*

They were at Thanasi’s apartment in South Yarra, so they enjoyed a quiet breakfast.

That is, until the news started coming through about a potential lockdown, because of a few cases leaking out of hotel quarantine.

The day took on a strange, foreboding feeling - a press conference confirmed the news that this would be the final day of spectator attendance until at least Thursday.

Nick had to head to Melbourne Park for practice, quietly arranging for his Australian Open car to pick him up from Thanasi’s, instead of from the hotel.

Before Nick left, Thanasi gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“This feels weird,” Nick said, unable to put the day’s emotions into words.

He didn’t need to. Thanasi got him.

“Use the crowd,” Thanasi suggested. _While you can,_ hung unsaid in the air between them.

Nick nodded, and his phone vibrated to let him know his car was two minutes away.

He leant in and kissed Thanasi, hard. Nick kissed Thanasi like he needed it, and it left Thanasi breathless. 

Thanasi swiped a thumb over Nick’s cheekbone. “Go. You’ve got this. Fight.”

Nick nodded, taking a deep breath. Thanasi lifted Nick’s bag onto his shoulder, and with one final look back at Thanasi, Nick left.

*

Nick was genuinely nervous before the match. He walked out as his name was called, hearing the cheers of the crowd, and once he had put his bag down, he took a second to scope out who was there. His dad, brother, physio, and Matt were all in the player box in the middle section of the mezzanine level… but two sections to the left, a multi-coloured Nike jacket caught his eye.

Thanasi had come.

Nick met his eyes, and Thanasi smiled at him. Nick was ready to give it everything.

And he did. He won the first two sets by breaking Thiem’s serve once, and the roar of the crowd was electric.

But Thiem was too good a player to keep down.

Nick fought, but so did Thiem.

In the end, Nick gave it everything, but it wasn’t enough. Thiem took the match in five sets, and Nick’s tournament - at least, in singles, was over.

*

Nick was disappointed, but he wasn’t devastated. Because he wasn’t alone.

Thanasi suggested Nick spend the five day lockdown at his apartment - it was more of a home than the hotel room Nick had been given for the tournament, and right now, Nick didn’t really want to be bumping into tennis players everywhere he went.

So they headed home, together, Thanasi’s head resting on Nick’s shoulder in the back of the car, their hands linked under Nick’s jacket.

“You know what?” Thanasi said quietly.

“What?” Nick asked.

Thanasi looked up at Nick. “Now we can both dedicate ourselves to winning the dubs title,” he deadpanned.

Nick grinned, shaking his head fondly.

“Hey, it’s not _impossible,”_ Thanasi protested. “You seem to forget I won that title with Jordy.”

“I won one with Jack, too,” Nick teased. “That’d be something, wouldn’t it? Us two winning the doubles champs.”

Thanasi grinned, closing his eyes, listening to the sound of the traffic around them. Maybe they could do it. But even if they couldn’t, at least they were together.

*

> _Wave out to the crowd_
> 
> _Take our final bow_
> 
> _It’s our time to go_
> 
> _But at least we stole the show_


End file.
